Lummis Backs Bill Against EPA Standards

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis voted for, and the House passed with a bi-partisan majority of 229-183, H.R. 3826: the Electricity Security and Affordability Act. This bill repeals the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to mandate unattainable technological standards at any new coal-fired power plants. Since these regulations impose impossible standards, they effectively ban the construction of any new coal plants. The bill replaces the EPA’s proposal with guidance to mandate only technology that is commercially attainable.

The bill also gives the EPA guidance for any future regulations on existing coal-fired power units. Under this bill the EPA is required to report the cost and other impacts of new technological mandates on current coal power plants to Congress. It would then take a federal law to enact the proposed regulations.

“The EPA and this administration are killing Wyoming jobs and in the process suffocating America’s economy,” said Rep. Lummis. “They cannot seem to grasp that thousands of Americans depend on coal for a living and millions more depend on coal every time they flip a light switch, charge their cell phone or even drive an electric car. If you attack coal you attack the bedrock of America’s standard of living. We passed the Electricity Security and Affordability Act to block the punch the EPA has thrown by way of their unattainable standards which, at their heart, are designed to kill coal.”